Spinach, Ricotta and Mushroom Quiche

This is one of the tastiest quiches I've made. Although I'm not vegetarian, I have found that the vegetarian quiches tend to taste better than the meat/fish ones. This broccoli and red pepper quiche was a real hit at my Christmas party last year and I've had repeat requests to bake it again. However, this may well trump that as it was just so tasty! I was a little worried about a soggy bottom particularly as the recipe calls for spinach and mushroom - two ingredients that excrete a lot of water whilst cooking. I made sure I strained the spinach well ensuring it was very dry before using in the quiche.  The mushrooms were roasted in the oven first so you can discard any excess water.  The quiche looks very impressive with the large mushrooms on top with the green spinach poking through. The mustard and ricotta worked well and really brought all the flavours together. 

I'm sending this to Extra Veg hosted this month by Jo from Jo's Kitchen on behalf of Helen from Fuss Free Flavours and Michelle from Utterly Scrummy Food For Families.

Cooking with herbs hosted by Karen from Lavender and Lovage as the recipe uses thyme. 

Vegetable Palette hosted by Shaheen from A2K - A Seasonal Veg Table. The theme this month is white vegetables and these large flat mushrooms are definitely white! 

Simple and in Season hosted by Helen from Fuss Free Flavours on behalf of Ren. Spinach is available all year round but it's in season in spring. 

 mix the ricotta cheese with grainy mustard 

 spread cheese/mustard layer on the bottom of the quiche 

 add the cooked and strained spinach 

 arrange the flat mushrooms on top 

 pour in the cream/egg mixture 

 Ready to eat! I took this to work so I don't have any pictures of the cut slice. 

Recipe adapted slightly from BBC Food which is a James Martin recipe from Saturday Kitchen

For the pastry (or use ready made)
280g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
140g cold butter, cut into pieces
8 tablespoons cold water

For the filling

4 large flat mushrooms 

Handful of thyme leaves

400g spinach leaves

250g ricotta cheese 

1 tablespoon grainy mustard

3 egg yolks

300ml double cream 

salt and pepper

• To make the pastry using a food processor - place the flour and butter and blitz until it resembles breadcrumbs. Slowly add the water one tablespoon at a time until a dough forms. 
• Alternatively, rub the butter and flour together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Slowly add water one tablespoon at a time until a dough forms. 
• Roll into a ball, wrap with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before baking. 
• Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and line your tart tin. 
• Use a small ball of pastry scrap to press the pastry into the corners of the tin. 
• Chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200C.
• Line the tart case with kitchen foil or baking paper and fill with baking beans. 
• Blind bake for 20 minutes, then remove the beans and foil/paper and continue baking for 5 - 10 minutes until the pastry is light brown.
• Grease a 25cm/10in loose-bottomed tart tin with butter.
• At the same time, place the mushrooms onto a baking tray and sprinkle with thyme leaves. 
• Drizzle lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Bake in the oven for 6-8 minutes or until they start to soften and excrete water. Discard any excess water.
• Bring a large pan of water to boil and add a tablepoon of olive oil. Add the spinach and cook until it's just wilted.
• Drain twice and press with a paper towel to ensure that the spinach is dry. Season with salt and pepper. 
• Place the ricotta into a bowl and stir in the grainy mustard. 
• Spoon the mustard and ricotta mixture into the bottom of the tart case, top with the wilted spinach, and carefully place the roasted mushrooms on top.
• Place the egg yolks and cream into a bowl and whisk until mixed. 
• Pour this mixture into the tart case.
• Bake for approximately 40 minutes or until it's golden brown and gently bubbling.
• Allow to cool before slicing. 

Cranberry and Camembert Quiche

We had a work Christmas lunch last week and everyone was asked to bring something. Initially I planned to bake a cake or a sweet treat but I thought I'd surprise everyone with a savoury treat. Plus I had quite a lot of leftover ingredients from my recent Christmas party so I decided on a cranberry and camembert quiche. I made 2 quiches - 1 vegetarian (cranberry, camembert and rosemary) and a non-vegetarian (cranberry, camembery, bacon and thyme). Most people preferred the vegetarian quiche including self confessed carnivores. I have to admit that my general motto is that everything tastes better with bacon but not on this occasion! Personally I preferred the vegetarian option as well although the cranberries were a little tart for me. Nevertheless everyone enjoyed the quiches and they didn't last long! They are really quick and easy to make and would for a stunning plate at the Christmas table. 

I'm sending this to the Fresh Cranberry Recipe Link Up 2014 hosted by Jen from Blue Kitchen Bakes. 

It's also perfect for the No Waste Food Challenge hosted by Elizabeth from Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary as I made use of leftover ingredients.  I had initially planned to bake a Christmas wreath bread with baked camembert in the centre for my party but didn't get round to it. The cranberries were for a sauce and garnish and I had cream leftover from myo other recipes.

 vegetarian version

 place fresh cranberries on pastry that has been blind baked. Scatter the chopped camembert cheese 

 add the cream mixture and some fresh herbs

 fresh from the oven

 I love the colour of the fresh cranberries 

 the non-vegeratian version with bacon and thyme

 add chopped cooked bacon to the quiche 

 You can clearly see the bacon pieces

For the pastry - makes 1 quiche
280g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
140g cold butter, cut into pieces
8 tablespoons cold water

For the vegetarian filling

150g fresh cranberries

1/2 box of camembert cheese,cut into cubes

2 eggs

300mls cream

fresh rosemary 

salt and pepper

For the non vegetarian filling 

150g fresh cranberries 

1/2 box of camembert cheese, cut into cubes

2 eggs

300mls cream

7 strips of streaky bacon, cooked and chopped into small pieces

fresh thyme

ground pepper 

• To make the pastry using a food processor - place the flour and butter and blitz until it resembles breadcrumbs. Slowly add the water one tablespoon at a time until a dough forms. 
• Alternatively, rub the butter and flour together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Slowly add water one tablespoon at a time until a dough forms. 
• Roll into a ball, wrap with clingfilm and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before baking. 
• Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and line your tart tin. 
• Use a small ball of pastry scrap to press the pastry into the corners of the tin. 
• Chill in the fridge for 15-20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 200C.
• Line the tart case with kitchen foil or baking paper and fill with baking beans. 
• Blind bake for 20 minutes, then remove the beans and foil/paper and continue baking for 5 - 10 minutes until the pastry is light brown.
• For the vegetarian filling, place the cranberries and cheese on top of the pastry.
• Whisk 2 eggs into 300mls of cream and add a little seasoning.
• Pour this mixture over the pastry and add some sprigs of fresh rosemary.
• Bake for approximately 45-50 minutes or until golden brown and the quiche is set.
• For the non-vegetarian filling, cook the bacon under the grill or in an oven. Cut into small pieces.
• Place the cranberry and cheese on top of the pastry followed by the cooked bacon and fresh thyme.
• Whisk 2 eggs and 300mls of cream and add some pepper (I didn't add any salt as the bacon is quite salty).
• Pour this mixture on top of the quiche and bake for approximately 45- 50 minutes or until golden brown and the quiche is set. 

 

Fig, Lardon and Dolcelatte Tart

I watched Eric Lanlard demonstrate this recipe at the BBC Good Food Show and J has been asking me to bake this ever since. My Christmas party seemed like a good time to try it out. I made a vegetarian broccoli and red pepper quiche and I thought that this might appeal to the carnivores. I don't have a rectangular tart tin which is what Eric used so I used my normal round pie dish. I definitely need to buy a rectangular tart tin as it looks more impressive with the figs sticking out. Unfortunately the fresh figs I found were quite small and they got lost in the pie. However, the flavour was absolutely delicious. The combination of the lardon, blue cheese and mascarpone cheese with the figs was heavenly. The thyme complemented the tart and rounded out the flavours nicely and the walnut crust was tasty and smelt amazing whilst baking. It's no surprise then that this is one of Eric's favourite recipes and he describes it as his dream light lunch or starter. 

 making the walnut pastry 

 layer the figs and bake for 10-12 minutes 

 adding the dolcelatte cheese and cooked lardons 

 

Recipe availabe from the baking mad website

I used 4 figs instead of 8 as that was all I had but otherwise I followed the recipe exactly and it worked perfectly. I can't wait to try it again using a rectangular tart tin.

Sage, Thyme and Emmental Madeleines

My regular readers will know that I love entering blogging challenges. I think I've mentioned previously that sometimes I happen to bake something or I've already planned a bake that will fit. Other times, I will create a recipe specially for the challenge. I really enjoy creating my own recipes which are usually based around the ingredients I want to use. 

Karen from Lavender and Lovage hosts Herbs on Saturday where you can submit any recipe with herbs. I love this challenge as it gets me thinking how I can incorporate herbs into my baking. Last month, I submitted lemon, lime and basil cookies so this month I decided I'd get out of my comfort zone and bake something savoury. I had a few ideas but in the end I decided to bake savoury madeleines. Yes madeleines which are not sweet!! They were a real hit with everyone particularly those without a sweet tooth (I get a few regular requests for savoury bakes!). 

Sage was the predominant flavour here and I may have been a little generous with my herbs so they were quite strong but not overpowering. I chose emmental cheese as it's one of my favourites but the flavour was quite mild. The madeleines smelt amazing whilst baking and they tasted like light cornbread with herby notes. The recipe is based loosely on a Martha Stewart recipe and I am already thinking about different combinations of herbs/spices and cheese to use. They were lovely on their own but would also make a great side dish to your main meal or provide an alternative bread accompaniment.  

As these were made from scratch and with lots of love, I'm entering them to Made with Love Mondays hosted by Javelin Warrior where the theme is to cook from scratch. 

I'm also entering them to Simple and in Season started by Ren from Fabulicious Food and guest hosted this month by Laura from How to Cook Good Food as sage is in season.

 simple recipe with few ingredients = cornmeal, cheese, sage and thyme 

 brown the butter - important for the flavour, do not skip this step! 

 lovely chopped , fresh herbs - a generous portion as you can see!  

 dry ingredients and wet ingredients- mix!

 adding the herbs and cheese 

 ready to go in the oven 

 fresh from the oven 

 I also made some muffins with tomatoes for breakfast. I found these teeny, tiny tomatoes called tomberries at the supermarket - really sweet and juicy!

 I actually preferred them with the tomatoes as the acid helped to lift the flavours. 

 with herbs and cheese 

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart

(Makes ~36 madeleines and 8 muffins I think - I can't remember now but it makes a lot of madeleines!! Would recommend halving the recipe if you only want a small batch) 

113g butter

250g plain flour

160g cornmeal (polenta)

50g sugar

2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

2 teaspoon salt

4 eggs

2 cups milk

3.5 tablespoons of chopped sage

1 tablespoon thyme

100g cheese, grated 

• Preheat the oven to 170C.
• Grease and flour a madeleine pan.  
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan until lightly browned. 
• In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
• In a separate bowl, which the eggs, milk and slightly cooled browned butter (you don't want to cook the eggs!).
• Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix. 
• Finally stir in the chopped herbs and cheese. 
• Pour into a madeleine pan and bake for 8 - 10 minutes.